Cyclists share water bottle with thirsty koala

Even though we had heard that native animals have been suffering in the heat wave conditions of the last week in Adelaide it came as a surprise to be stopped on the side of the road during a bike ride by a thirsty young koala.

Even though we had heard that native animals have been suffering in the heatwave conditions of the last week in Adelaide it came as a surprise to be stopped on the side of the road during a bike ride by a thirsty young koala.

We were riding on the old Mt Barker Rd towards Mt Lofty with just a little of the enthusiasm left from the Tour Down Under after the heat had taken its toll.

The koala uncharacteristically approached us and it became clear by the manner in which he grabbed the water bottle and the enthusiastic way he gulped it down that his thirst was a priority.

Deb Kelly from the animal welfare unit of the Department of Environment and Heritage advised us that this was probably a weaning youngster who had devised the method of stopping cyclists as a survival tool.

She assured us that it was most unusual for any species in the wild to behave this way and unfortunately is a sure sign of the animal's distress.

We hope that our moment shared with the koala helped him to survive though it is clear the extreme and prolonged heat has taken its toll on our native animals.